Facts About Vegetative and Minimally Conscious States After Severe Brain Injury

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Comments (331)

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This is very helpful and informative. Being there and through it now, this makes it more clear in the sea of unknowns.
Great article. It helped me understand my sister's (who is living in other country) conditions and chances of recovery. Thank you.
I would like to thank those who took the time to write such a clear explanation to which I am now finding my youngest son (31) to be in. He was ejected from a car when it rolled 3 weeks ago. He is in a coma. The medical staff seem to be so negative and don\'t want to give false hope. I believe that I have seen some recognition and trying to communicate by arm movements, blinking of the eyelid and tears coming down the sides of his cheeks. We are still praying for a miracle and for him to wake up. He has 4 small children and a wife and many, many others who love and miss him.
I find this information to be very helpful, i understand now what happened to my stepmother and will pass this information onto the other family member's. Thank you so much , we as well are praying for a miracle !!
I wish I had known these stages 4 years ago when my husband suffered a TBI from a fall in China. His surgery there--since they put his skull back on--harmed him more than the initial injury. The doctors in Hong Kong, who treated him after we were evacuated were very honest with me about his prognosis, but no doctors in the U.S. ever outlined these conditions to us, and all we heard about was "waxing and waning," without much explanation of what that meant in spite of our best efforts. This would have helped us communicate better with the staff of the acute rehab hospital to which he went after being stabilized.
the article is very well written and useful to understand the various stages of coma and how to deal with the person in vegetative state.I am sad that my dad who was hake and hearty 50 days ago, is lying on the bed in this state. I have firm belief in Sai and i know he wont break my trust.Miracle will happen and i am going to talk and walk with dad again. Sai cannot let anything go wrong with me becoz i have never done any wrong to anybody.
This article was very helpful. My dad is now in minimally conscious state after a massive stroke 2 months ago. It definitely is draining for family members, and I think the recommendation to seek support is really important (and often overlooked).
My sister suffered hypoxic brain damage from lack of oxygen and its been 40 days today. The neurologist says she's in a vegetative state and she also said something about alpha spindle coma. I am so very sad and just cannot believe this nightmare, but I do believe in miracles from God. I hope everyone who's going through similar situations have good outcomes and some miracles along the way.
Great article! My 44 year old husband was in a motorcycle accident on April 9th, was in a coma for 8 days, and has been in a vegetative state for about two months now. I see signs that he is aware though, like when I get upset, he shows signs of being upset. He inconsistent follows commands such as hand squeezing when I ask him to or if I ask him to open his eyes, but he doesn't reach for objects, hold objects, or say anything. He does move his mouth often like he is trying to speak though. He had several other life threatening injuries that had to be addressed prior to beginning physical therapy, so we are now, after two months, getting to the stage of physical therapy for his broken bones. I am hoping that once he is stimulated with physical movement, that may help stimulate his brain in some way. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this experience, and can give me some hope that he may recover his cognitive abilities. I have been trusting God for a miracle, and it always helps to hear others stories about how their loved one recovered.
My eldest brother suffered from a masssive stroke 4 months ago, he remained in vegatative state up to now. It's hard to see and accept that he is no longer the person I used to see when I visit him before the stroke. He's not aware of his sorroundings, no verbal response and unable to move his right arm and leg. I don't know if he will ever recover from that state but we are praying for his recovery and believe in God's miracle, no impossible with Him....
My dad was in a severe car accident and then had a massive stroke. He opens his eyes, but there is not response. It has been 11 days and I pray that he will regain conscious. My prayers go out to all families affected.
This brought some devastating reality to my world. My boyfriend is currently in what I believe to be the vegetative state. I was hoping that he would be back to his old great self again. I now know that this is not reality. And can prepare my heart for whats to come.
This has been very useful. My mom is in vegetative state. She was conscious after the stroke, but after an infection she went into coma and is now in vegetative state. We are praying for the best.
very practical & self-explanatory article. Though I could relate to each sentence as my loved one is in minimally conscious state. My prayers & empathy to similar persons suffering along with their caretakers.
Very informative, useful article. Thank you for posting it!
We care for our youngest son here at home, following a severe injury in 2006. While life has changed for us all, it is good, and we cherish the opportunity to minister to him as a family. Thank you for a well written and informative article. We will use it to help other families coming to terms with their loved one's injury.
very informative. thank you.
This article is an enormous help to me. It is written in a way that a lay person can understand and particularly helped me to see what we are currently doing for my 53 year old husband is the right thing.
My mom is in the same state right now.. God will take care of our loved ones.. There is power in prayer..
`thank u so much for give me this useful information
Thank You for your time and this article is very helpful to our friends and family.
my husband is in vegetative stage,just waiting for him to pass on to the next stage.this article answered a lot of questions,thus preparing us for the future course of actions to be taken.thank you.
unfortunatly my sister had brain strok few days ago . she is in hospital unconcience . im so worried about her . this article helped me to understand and praying for her to gain concience . it is one of the saddiest days of my life
This was the first article I have found , and I have looked for many that actually helped me understand the injury that has happened to someone in my family, it helped so much ...I now understand thankyou
Your descriptions of the various phases of brain recovery are clear and straightforward. Consistant prayer is a great help, too, and it\'s such a comfort when we find ourselves or dear a loved one in one of these non-negotiable situations. We\'re grateful for your helpful suggestions and advice. Thanks. Leslie 18March2012
Thank you so much, this is very helpful, very accurate and up to date as far as I can tell, and will help our family cope
Thank you so much,this gave me new hope on my mother
Very helpful!!!
Thank you for your time and care into putting this together. It helped a lot :)
thanks a lot
Very helpful information to distinguish the various stages of coma and consciousness.

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